Search results

The New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing (NYC-LSW) also known as the Poverty Tracker (PT) is a study of disadvantage in New York City. Launched in 2012, the Poverty Tracker surveys a representative sample of New Yorkers every three months collecting data on the dynamics of poverty and other forms of disadvantage. The Poverty Tracker covers two distinct panels. The first panel collected from 2012-2015 following 2,286 New Yorkers and the second panel which follows 3,909 New Yorkers. Collection of the second panel of data began in 2015 after respondents took the Community Health Survey with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH).

In the first panel (n=2286) the majority of respondents were recruited by landline and mobile phone using RDD (n = 2002). Landline phone numbers from zip codes where more than 20% of residents live in poverty based on the 2000 US Census were oversampled. An additional sample (n = 226) was recruited from 14 social service agencies randomly selected from a list of all agencies funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. The agency sample allowed the oversampling of low-income persons who utilize social services. An additional sample (n=58) of respondents randomly selected from homes in zip codes affected by Hurricane Sandy were also recruited. Respondents who joined the panel study were surveyed at baseline in late 2012 and early 2013. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 2-year period. Surveys were 10-20 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.

The second panel (n=3909), was collected in Spring 2015 after respondents participated in the Community Health Survey administered by the NYC DOHMH, which was also sampled using RDD (n=3403). Again, this sample contains an additional subsample (n=506) from 26 randomly selected Robin Hood-funded social service agencies designed to provide an oversample of New Yorkers engaged in social services. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 4-year period. Surveys are 10-25 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.

This data constitutes the first panel in the survey series. Demographic variables include age, gender, race, household relationships, and income.

The New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing (NYC-LSW) also known as the Poverty Tracker (PT) is a study of disadvantage in New York City. Launched in 2012, the Poverty Tracker surveys a representative sample of New Yorkers every three months collecting data on the dynamics of poverty and other forms of disadvantage. The Poverty Tracker covers two distinct panels. The first panel collected from 2012-2015 following 2,286 New Yorkers and the second panel which follows 3,908 New Yorkers. Collection of the second panel of data began in 2015 after respondents took the Community Health Survey with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

In the first panel (n=2286) the majority of respondents were recruited by landline and mobile phone using random digit dialing (n=2002). Landline phone numbers from zip codes where more than 20% of residents live in poverty based on the 2000 US Census were oversampled. An additional sample (n=226) was recruited from 14 social service agencies randomly selected from a list of all agencies funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. The agency sample allowed the oversampling of low-income persons who utilize social services. An additional sample (n=58) of respondents randomly selected from homes in zip codes affected by Hurricane Sandy were also recruited. Respondents who joined the panel study were surveyed at baseline in late 2012 and early 2013. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 2-year period. Surveys were 10-20 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.

The second panel (n=3908), began collection in Spring 2015 after respondents participated in the Community Health Survey administered by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which was also sampled using random digit dialing (n=3403). Again, this sample contains an additional subsample (n=505) from 26 randomly selected Robin Hood-funded social service agencies designed to provide an oversample of New Yorkers engaged in social services. Follow-up interviews were conducted in English and Spanish every 3 months over a 6-year period. Surveys are 10-25 minutes in length. Persons recruited from social service agencies who did not have a stable telephone number were offered cell phones and paid phone service in lieu of monetary compensation.

This study was designed as an exploratory study to understand fear of gang crime among residents living in an urban area plagued by gangs. During the Summer of 1997, six focus groups were conducted in Santa Ana, California -- two in lower income neighborhoods, two in middle income neighborhoods, and two in upper income neighborhoods. After the focus groups ended, participants were asked to take disposable cameras with them and take pictures of examples of neighborhood factors that prompted them to fear gangs and then mail them back to me in a postage-paid envelope.

The research questions guiding this study were: How do the fear-of-crime perspectives apply to fear of gang crime specifically? When worrying about gang crime, do different people focus primarily on different problems (e.g., some diversity or some disorder), or do the same people think about all of these factors? Findings first showed that all four theoretical perspectives on fear of crime applied to the same people at once, rather than to different people (e.g., some being worried about racial and ethnic differences but others about disorder). Second, findings illustrated specifically how these residents connected the factors into one thought process leading to fear of gangs. Residents in these groups clearly believed that ethnic and cultural diversity, or in this case, recent "illegal" Latino immigrants, brought disorder, which in turn caused community decline and brought gangs. This thought process led to personal fear of gang-related victimization. Their beliefs about these causal connections were primarily influenced by their knowledge and observations that gangs in the area were Latino; by direct observation of area diversity disorder, and decline; and by experience living in their changing neighborhoods over time. In addition, beliefs were fueled by indirect victimization, or knowledge gained primarily through acquaintances such as neighbors and community policing officers.